For Bibi Freer, business is simple. It’s giving people
a glimpse at the way small town
business used to be. The company’s
mission statement says it all."We
combine old fashioned service
and compassion with state-of-the-art
care, and deliver it to the
farm."Freer, 49, began
the new mobile veterinarian
service in September after leaving
Bonnie Brae Vet Hospital, a
company she founded in 1990.While
she still loves Bonnie Brae
and considers it her baby, Freer
wanted something smaller.It
was a decision based on family."I
decided to go out on my own
to do what made my family happy,"
Freer said. "(Bonnie Brae)
just outgrew me."Now she
works from an office in her
back yard. Freer’s business
is mobile, but customers can
still bring their animals to
her office.She makes house calls
for normal checkups, routine
medicine, and emergencies.Her
website, freerequine.com, will
be up and running soon.It’s
currently under construction.
Freer also carries some of the
most state of the art equipment
in veterinary services. In her
truck, she carries digital x-ray,
digital ultrasound, and all
reproductive equipment. Her
truck is a fully functional
veterinarian office on wheels.Her
truck, however, isn’t
just a veterinary office. It’s
named for someone very special,
who was instrumental in Freer
becoming a veterinarian. If
you’re riding down the
road and you come up behind
a truck with "Aunt Margaret"
written on the back, it’s
Freer.Freer’s Aunt Margaret
first advised her on becoming
a veterinary technician. Freer
took her aunt’s advice
and looked into it and never
looked back, graduating in 1988.After
her aunt past away, her inheritance
was spread out among her nieces
and nephews. Freer bought her
truck with that inheritance.
She thought naming the truck
after her aunt would be a great
way to honor her memory.

Before she
became a veterinarian, however,
Freer did a couple of things
in the 1980’s.She worked
the vineyards, chatting it up
with the Appalachian locals
at the Biltmore Estate. She
also worked with Charlie Whittingham,
a legendary figure in horse
racing, at his race track in
Santa Anita, California. Whittingham,
one of two heroes in her life,
finally pushed her into veterinarian
school. Freer complained to
Whittingham that if she went
through with the schooling,
she’d be 30 by the time
that she graduated and readied
herself for practice.Whittingham
gave her a response that she’d
never forget. He told her that
she’d be 30 if she stuck
around practicing his race horses.After
she graduated, Freer began working
at the Apex Vet Hospital in
Apex, N.C. before moving to
Columbus and beginning Bonnie
Brae Equine.Now, as she returns
to a small business, Freer keeps
her second hero in mind as she
goes out on her house calls
and works with her customers.Freer’s
second hero was Harley Solesbee,
who passed away last week. Harley
is her inspiration for keeping
her business small and personal.
Solesbee owned a full service
gas station in Landrum, where
he pumped gas himself until
he sold it last December."When
I found it he was retiring,
I took every car here over there
and filled them up," Freer
said.He was part of the inspiration
for her mission statement and
her business’s philosophy.
It was Harley’s ability
to not just pump gas, but to
talk and know each one of his
clients that made him special
in Freer’s mind. She’s
tried to translate that business
sense in her own business.At
Freer Equine, it’s not
just about the horses entrusted
to her care, but it’s
also about the people behind
the horse."You need to
spend a lot of time with the
people," Bibi Freer said.
"Horses don’t walk
in on their own."